Week in photos: Nov. 12-16, 2012

A gaucho flies from the back of an untamed horse during Tradition Day celebrations in San Antonio de Areco, Argentina.

Reuters

A woman stoops to light lamps that together form the shape of Hindu god Ganesh on the eve of Diwali, the festival of lights, in Chandigarh, India.

Reuters

Residents walk through a dense fog in Breezy Point, Queens, a neighborhood left devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

Reuters

Lauren Timmins, 4, tries to budge a cannon that sits along the route of Bay County’s annual Veterans Day Parade in Panama City, Fla.

AP

Demonstrators wear caracatures of Elsa Fornero, Italy’s Minister of Labour, during march in Naples against unemployement .

AFP/Getty Images

Massive cracks sit open in a road through Sintgu, Myanmar, where an earthquake last week left at least 13 dead.

AFP/Getty Images

A young traveling performer balances on a tight rope for tips on the streets of Hyderabad, India.

AFP/Getty Images

Nationalists fight with police in the streets of Warsaw, Poland, on the country’s Independence Day.

Marcin Wziontek/Rex

This chocolate Santa Claus doesn’t seem ready for holiday decorations either… he’s still wearing shades as he sits in the display window of Munich, Germany, boutique.

AFP/Getty Images

Syrians wave flags as they march through Aleppo arm-in-arm against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

Reuters

Kevin Palmer of Goshen, Conn., holds Michele Mathews on his shoulders as she makes a rubbing of the name of Palmer’s uncle, Douglas, inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.

Getty Images

A dancer performs at the opening of the new 1001-seat Bahrain National Theatre in Manama.

Reuters

A Palestinian man can be seen through a gunshot- and shrapnel-riddled slab of metal after an Israeli airstrike in the Jabalia refugee camp.

AFP/Getty Images

Firing blind around a corner, a Syrian rebel guards a roadblock of flaming tires in Aleppo against government loyalists.

AFP/Getty Images

A woman whose home was damaged last week’s earthquake in Guatamala peers out of her tent at a temporary camp in San Marcos.

AP

He seems skeptical, but this dog is covered in flowers and vermillion powder as part of Tihar celebrations at a police kennel in Katmandu, Nepal. Dogs are worshipped for their role in providing security.

AP

Crowds of Britons crane their necks to take in the newly-lit Christmas decorations on Regent Street in London.

EPA

Iranian soldiers celebrate after successfully launching a new surface-to-air missile during military exercises.

EPA

The town of Orte, near Rome, Italy, sits partially submerged by floodwater thanks to heavy rains battering north and central Italy.

AP

A Bahraini protester prepares gasoline bombs in anticipation of a fight with riot police in Muharraq during a funeral procession for a teen whose death has been blamed on cops.

AP

Crews hoist an 80-foot, 10-ton Norway Spruce tree from its base on its way from Flanders, NJ, to become Rockefeller Center’s annual holiday centerpiece.

AP

Workers from a Spanish phone company wear bags on their heads (reading ‘I am a profitable person’) while blocking traffic in protest of dismissals at their company.

AP

One Direction’s Harry Styles performs for clawing fans on NBC’s ‘Today’ at Rockefeller Plaza in New York.

ZUMA Press

Television cameras catch the campaign speech of Jean-Francois Cope, a French deputy, seeking the leadership of the UMP political party.

Reuters

A warped house, inspired by drawings of Polish illustrator Jan Szancer, is pictured in the Baltic sea resort of Sopot.

Riot policemen detain a man during clashes in Lisbon, Portugal during a general strike.

AP

A member of the Free Syrian Army talks to a woman during a patrol to search for pro-government forces in Harem town.

Reuters

Elementary school girls cross a river to go to school in the village of Nagari Koto Nan Tigo in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province.

Reuters

A People’s Liberation Army officer walks down stairs inside the Great Hall of the People before the closing ceremony for the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing.

AP

An Orthodox believer attends a religious procession to mark the Hundred Thousand Martyrs Day in central Tbilisi, Georgia.

AFP/Getty Images

Columns of smoke rise from buildings following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City.

AP

Rafael Montiel leads a group of riders through a rainy stretch of Costa Rica’s International Cycling Tour.

ZUMA Press

Lone protester Mary Phelan holds a picture of Savita Halappanavar outside University Hospital in Galway, Ireland, where the woman died after being denied an abortion.

Reuters

Two women smooch during a rally in Paris to protest homophobia a week after the French government approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption.

EPA

Olympic-champion gymnasts Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Gabby Douglas walk along the White House promenade after meeting with President Obama.

Reuters

Indian policemen stand guard at the gate to the office of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee following a clash between rival Sikh groups that left 11 dead.

AP

Verizon tech Chris Levendos works to restore phone service in the company’s hub on Broad Street after it was knocked out by flooding during Hurricane Sandy.

Dan Brinzac

A Palestinian paramedic gives oxygen to a man trapped in rubble following an Israeli air raid in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia.

AFP/Getty Images

President Obama speaks to Staten Island residents while touring the area of New Dorp Beach, hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.

Reuters

French swimmer Mehdi Metella competes in the men’s short course 100m butterfly final at the French championships in Angers.

AFP/Getty Images

A young trash-picker digs through giant sacks of garbage in a dump outside Kabul, Afghanistan.

Reuters

Confirming the sage advice of always letting the Wookie win, this Chewbacca seems happy as he looks over a case of ‘Star Wars’ figures at the toys’ induction into the Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, NY.

AP

Newly-elected House members gather on the steps of the capitol in Washington, DC, for their freshman class picture.